Edina City Council Moves Forward with Anti-Gun Measure Despite Preemption

It’s hard to believe that Minnesota has preemption, what with how leftward and anti-gun they tend to be these days. Unless an anti-ICE protestor has the gun, anyway, then it’s cool.

Regardless, they’ve got it, and it was a mark of a better time up that way. They didn’t used to be so anti-gun, but that ship has long since set sail, and it’s only a matter of time before they repeal it, I suppose.

But it’s the law now, even if some places don’t want to admit it.

St. Paul recently passed a local gun control measure that only kicks in if preemption is repealed. Now, the smaller city of Edina has joined them in this folly.

After listening to over 40 people testify in a special town hall and receiving 89 online feedback submissions, the Edina City Council passed the first reading of an ordinance that would prohibit assault weapons, large-capacity magazines, binary triggers and ghost guns within the city.

The first reading passed with a four-majority vote Jan. 20 with Councilmember Julie Risser abstaining. The council did not waive the second reading, so the ordinance is scheduled to appear on the agenda at the council’s next meeting, Feb. 4, for final approval.

The proposed ordinance is similar to the one passed by the city of Saint Paul but has a few key differences, City Attorney David Kendall said. One change is the effective date of the ordinance: If adopted, it cannot be enforced until the Edina City Council certifies that Minnesota lifted a state law preempting local regulation of firearms. The other difference is there is not a prohibition on possession of firearms in “sensitive places,” or places owned by the city. Kendall said this change from the Saint Paul ordinance was designed to “potentially help the Edina ordinance survive litigation.”

“We are a town saying enough is enough,” Mayor James Hovland said. “With mass shootings of children, it is time to press for change instead of just worrying that this might happen again. We hope this is a catalyst for that change that helps our state lead the way to a better place.”

Except, they’re not.

They’re a city council saying, “Look at us! We have the right politics, and you should take us seriously when we all decide to try for higher office in the state.”

I say that because anyone with half a brain knows that a local ordinance, which is just a misdemeanor, won’t be much of a deterrent against mass shooters. I mean, if dozens of potential murder or attempted murder charges–all felonies, mind you–aren’t enough to dissuade them from their horrific plots, then what is a misdemeanor or two going to do?

Nothing. Nothing at all.

And it won’t do anything for more garden-variety criminals, either, because again, laws don’t stop them from committing felonies, so misdemeanors are useless, too.

This is nothing but virtue signaling. This is the Edina City Council telling everyone that they have the right thoughts, the right feelings, and that they approve of the current thing.

That’s all they’ve done. That’s all they’re interested in doing, beyond making life difficult for the law-abiding folks living there who will have to give up lawful items if they want to remain in the city.

Absolutely pathetic.

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